What is a cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye. Just as a dirty camera lens can spoil a picture, a cataract can prevent light from focussing clearly inside the eye. Cataract develop in almost everyone sooner or later. About one half of all people between the age of 52 and 64 have a cataract. Factors other than aging may cause cataracts as well. Cataracts sometimes occur relatively early in life due to such factors as injury, excessive sunlight, toxic chemicals, changes in the body's metabolism, or drugs.

Normal vision without a cataract or spectacle

Cataract surgery,to restore vision,consist of removing the cataractou lens from the eye and replacing it with a clear artifical lens called a lens implant or intraocular lens(IOL)

How cataracts affect your lifestyle?
People with catracts, even when wearing glasses, typically have difficulty : Seeing in the distance or reading Distinguishing road signs at dusk Recognizing colours Recognizing friends and family at a distance Driving at night Detecting a catract Cataractas can be diagnosed only by a thorough eye examination. An eye care practitioner must determine whether a cataract or other eye disorder may be affecting a patient's vision.

Vision through a cataract. Overall vision is very cloudy.

Treating Cataract
The decision to treat a catract is reached by the eye care practioner and the patient together. This decision is based on the degree to which the cataract is imapring vision and the effect of the impairment on the patient's qulaity of life. Today's cataract surgery is a marvel of medical technology. Often, it is performed as an outpatient procedure, under local anesthesia. In most cases, the incision is so small that the eye heals rapidly with little or no discomfort. In the surgical procedure, the clouded natural lens is removed, leaving behind the lens capsule. Next, a man-made lens is inserted into the lens capsule of the eye. The man-made lens is called an Intraocular lens, or IOL for short. The proven procedure offering maximum benefits to patients is to undergo phacoemulsification surgey and to get a foldable lens implanted.

Vision through a monofocal (one focus point) lens implant. Objects in the distance are quite clear. For clear close-up or midrange vision, you'll need to wear spectacles.

Choices of IOL's available
Basically, there are two different types of IOL's
Rigid & Foldable

Among the foldable IOLs there are 2 options available :
Monofocal IOLs are designed to provide good vision at one distance- usually far- so most people need glasses after surgery for close-up activities like reaading or crafts.

The other choice is the Multifocal IOL, which offers proven benefits for today's catarct patients. It is designed to provide good distance vision, intermediate vision, and near vision. Compared with monofocal IOls, Multifocal IOl can reduce the need for glasses in activitties like reading, viewing text on a computer screen, or watching a movie.

Vision through an Intraocular lens. It provides distance vision that is very similar to a monofocal lens or normal vision without a cataract. In addition, it gives you vision superior to the monofocal lens at both up close and midrange.
 

Paediatric cataract surgery with IOL implants to restore best possible vision to children with cataracts.

YAG LASER : 1064 nm cold laser used to cut opaque lens capsules ,create iridotomies in case of Glaucoma, enlarge the pupil and cut strands of vitreous

Refractive errors are an arerration of the optic of the eye wherein light from the object of regard is not clearly focused on the retina. This disability is commonaly corrected by the use of spectacles and contact lenses. Thus the patient is dependent on these aids, for clear vision.

 

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